Working-Class Whites Watch: Day 89

Once again, The Stain demonstrates that the working-class whites who voted for him were sold a bill of goods:

Unless Congress intervenes by late April, government-funded health benefits will abruptly lapse for more than 20,000 retired miners, concentrated in Trump states that include Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.  Many of the miners have serious health problems arising from their years in the mines.

In mining areas like Uniontown, Pa., and surrounding Fayette and Greene Counties, which Mr. Trump carried 2 to 1, it is an upsetting and potentially costly prospect.  "It's just a terrible, terrible feeling," said one of the retirees, David VanSickle, who spent four decades at work in the mine.  "I think about it 25 times a day."

The president has offered no public comment on the issue, even as he has rolled back regulations on mine operators, an omission that has not escaped the notice of Mr. VanSickle and other retired miners.

Stunning, just stunning.  I mean, the guy swindled thousands of people with a fake university, set up a sham charitable foundation to line his pockets, and lies more than any politician in U.S. history.  And his sole qualification for office was the fact that he's a rich guy.

Who could have predicted that his promises to look out for the interests of the miners would be empty, and that he would instead enact policies which favor the mine operators at the cost of the workers?

Things Everyone Knows: Don't Do Your Opponent's Work For Him

Some Sanders supporters drive me nuts.

So . . . this showed up on my timeline. It was shared by someone I don't actually know personally --- a Friend of someone I know personally, who sent me a Friend request.

Since I don't know her personally, I can't vouch for her politics, but I think she considers herself a liberal/progressive. She has certainly posted a lot of anti-Trump stuff. In fact, I'm pretty sure she's a Sanders supporter.

I don't know if anyone else in my Facebook friends group shares this opinion of the Clintons/DWS/Brazile/Abedin. But just for the record ---

If you oppose Trump and the Republican party, you need to stop doing their work for them. For starters, that means stop it with this over-the-top hatred of these Democrats. There is no proof anywhere that any of these people did anything criminal. There isn't even reason to suspect that any of them did anything illegal, or even particularly wrong. If you actually believe the words in this picture, it means that you are buying into a Russian/Republican con, at least somewhat.

You can't effectively oppose Trump by drinking his Kool-Aid.

Now you may think 'so what, the election's over. It doesn't matter what I say about these Democrats --- there's no way it can help Trump now.' That would be wrong.

The primary way it helps Trump is this: No matter what flaws these people may have, they still have the support of the majority of Democrats. And the Democratic party is the most effective force to counter Trump. So when a Sanders supporter posts stuff like this, it divides the Democratic party and causes Trump's opponents to fight among themselves (like I'm doing right now), rather to focus on opposing Trump.

The more subtle way it helps Trump is that it legitimizes the absolutely absurd attacks he and Russians made on the Clintons, et al, during the campaign. And guess what? No matter who the Democrats nominate in 2020 --- even if it's Saint Bernard --- the Russians and Republicans will generate the exact same kind of misinformation campaign against that person. And when they do, as someone who has given life and credibility to their lies against the Clintons, you will have no credibility yourself when you argue that these new attacks against your candidate are lies.

Lies and smears are exactly that. When Trump lies about Sanders, that needs to be denounced, or at least ignored. The same is true when Trump lies about Clinton. Sanders supporters need to let go of the fact that some of the lies and smears from the last campaign make their candidate look like a martyr. Otherwise the cycle will repeat itself, and an incumbent president who should easily be defeated might well barely stumble across the finish line to claim a second term.

And one final thing. I did what I could to research the origins of this image. My Facebook acquaintance who posted it shared it from some other guy who's not a Friend of mine. I checked out what I could of his page, and he looks like a Sanders supporter, too. But that 'looks like' is important. I expect there are some true Sanders supporters who actually believe this nonsense. But I have no doubt there are lots of people on Facebook who PRETEND to be Sanders supporters, just so they can sucker true Sanders supporters into drinking from their puke funnel and reposting this slime.

Think before you share.